Page:Vol 3 History of Mexico by H H Bancroft.djvu/17

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CONTENTS.
xiii
Page
CHAPTER XXVII.
ADMINISTRATIVE AND JUDICIAL SYSTEMS
1500-1800.
Peculiar Features of Spanish Colonies — The Supreme Authority — Division of the Indies — Provincial Government — Municipalities — Local Administration — Indian Communities — Office-holding, Restrictions and Requisites — Salable Positions — Vanity and Precedence — New Spain, Extent and Divisions — Offices and Duties of the Viceroy — Pomp, Privileges, and Pay — Vicissitudes and Jurisdiction of the Audiencia — Oidores' Tasks and Honors — Different Instance Courts — Costly Litigation — Causes of Crime — Peculiar and Severe Punishments — At the Scaffold 517
CHAPTER XXVIII.
MINES AND MINING.
1500-1800.
Traffic with the Natives of Central America — Doings of the Conquerors in that Quarter — Mineral Deposits — Something of South America — Earliest Discoveries in Mexico — Aztec Mining — Protective Policy of the Crown — A Great Discovery — Distribution and Consumption of Quicksilver — Fruitless Efforts to Obtain It in Mexico — Geological View — Silver Ores — Gold and Other Metals — Quarries and Salines — Location of Rich Mines — Attractive Regions — Guanajuato, San Luis Potosí, and Zacatecas — Their Advantage over the North — Mines near the Capital — The Cuerpo de Minería — A Great Mining Tribunal — New Laws — Mining System — The Total Yield of Mexico — The Share of the Crown — Bibliographical 553
CHAPTER XXIX.
AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURES.
1521-1803.
Aztec Land System — Spanish Policy and Influence — Cortés as a Farmer — Maize — Maguey and its Manifold Use — Cacao and Vanilla — Introduction of Sugar-cane and Wheat — Fertility of the Southern Provinces — Plantains — Culture of Silk, Vine, and Olives — Tobacco and its Monopoly — Stock-raising — Woollen, Cotton, and Linen Manufactures — Production of Spirituous Liquors — Minor Products — Fisheries and Pearls — Aztecs as Artisans — Feather-work and Jewelry — Oppressive Colonial Policy — Industries at the Close of the Century — Bibliographical 603